Automatic piano, &amp;c.



J. A. WBSER. AUTOMATIC HANG, 8w. APPLIOA'HOI rmm 3.5, mos. nnnnwnn our.8, 190a.

Patented Dec. 22, 1908.

4 SHEETS-SHEET 1.

J. A. WESBR. AUTOMATIC PIANO, &c. APPLIUATIOH FILED n.5, 190a. RENEWED001e, 190a.

J. A. WESER. AUTOMATIC PIANO, kn. APPLIGATIOH nun 3.5, 1900. nmuawnnour. 8 190a.

Patented Dec. 22, 1908.

4 SHEETS-SHEET 44 g pernnt the a and the 3 5 not, "on

matically,

anceo. the pia'noc cf c? .v l herelnatterwi th AUTOMATIC PIANO, 850.

10 foriinhg a part hereof.

This invention relates to autonm tic pianos, is end other,lnechamcnlnnzsicnl 1nrents in which, the lUGCllQlilCzll playing dev ,es areinclosed within the piano case.

15 It isl d .sirzihle that such pianos shall have the n no once ofordinary t e in elianicaltlei icc. "re in use, and at the saingtiineitis ccessn y that the piano case be cfnpable of being opened asrcqniredto Jplicntion and removal of music sheets end-a so that the pedals bywhich the p ow erbellon's are actuated shall be capable of being -foldedinto the case so that their resence shall not be reycnled when the case)ionos exec t when 25 ls'close-d tindslinll also be capable of beingplaced reodil This 7 invention particnl arlyf witl case, a

y in operative position.

is therefore concerned the construction ,of the penalty inrelation tothe music rolls blow pedilsfand with the adaptation of thl blow porlnlsto the case. In the G111- bodiriient of the invention presented in thedrawings, is made moreover, provision whereby upo'ntlie release of asingle catch is the case opened. for the insertion or rinbx-al of niusiesheet, but the blow are themselves released and per Initted to more intoOPBISLlLlYEI P OSJUOD, a music sheet. cabinetv is also opened entoandmanually operated controlling; (le -(ices are, .unoo\-'ered. All thesepartsnnt their, connections, moreoyeri, are devised witlfielation to th'rproper cooperation and to Hi derhfzitrmt of the desired appear-Furthermore, power is,.stuijed by? the clot g of some oneiof jtheseparish nch ripe-rates to effect the-opening of all of thefpartsnfheiione of them is released The iiivcntion will belinore fullyexplained 'clereiice to the accompany hlch'it is illustrated asemlianical features. 1

Figure 1 is a view in n i of an autornnt 1e .ention is applied, the

Spccificzltto'n of Letters Patent.

Patented Dec. 22, 1908. ltcnuwctl October 6, 1903, Serial No. 456,413.

the broken line ]1 of Fig. 2, many parts which are not concerned withthe present llWOlltlOll being omitted and the scale being larger thanthat of big, .2; Fig, 2 is a View in front elevation of some of theparts shown in 1' ig. 1 so far as they embody the invention, as if thesame were removed, the frame and easing of the piano being indicated bybroken lines and in outline in order to avoid cons fusion; Fig. 3 is adetail view showing the blow pedals, their supporting devices andconnections in part; I igi 4 is a View in ele ration, es if seen fromthe inside, of the, ngsic sheet cabinet and some of its associatedparts, the frame and casing of the piano being also shown, higs. 5 and 6are views in vertical-section, on ditlercnt planes, of the parts shownin Fig, 4; Fig. 7 is a View similar. to Fig. 2, but illustrating aditl'erent embodiment of the invention; Fig. 8 is a detail, view insection on the irregular plane indicated by the broken line 8-8 of Fig.7;

Figs. 9 and 10 are detail views illustrating; the devices for exposingthe mannnlh operated controlling means.

In the embodiment of theinvention represented in Figs. 1-6 of thedrawings, the tracker-box a of an automatic upright piano is representedas located near the upper right hand corner and as" accessible, for thepurpose 01' insertingand removing the music rolls b, I), through anopening in the frontccsin'g of the piano which is closed by a panel 0arranged to slide in ways 0 secured to the front casing c The panel door0' is opened, when released, by a spring {I which, for convenionce, isarranged to not through a'cord d upon drum d, larger, diameter connectedby a cord 1' with the door 0. By the closing oft-the door 0 power isstored in the spring d which is utilized thereafter, notcnly in openingthe door 0, but in effecting the opening of other parts, as hereinafterdescribed. ,A latch or detent e of ordinaryconstruction is ncuntednpo rthe inner side of the front casing to engage the door 0 and-hold it'inits closed position,

'being provided with a push but/tone which to which is fixed a drum d oftor movement.

the plunger by a cord f', sprmglf and arm 20 ries the blow tion of t islower front oasi ;:The member h is fined or rz 38 to the movable part ofthe be ows and w on the panel h is thrown up the member h swings on itselbow joint, permitting the the door, a pneumatic cylinder f, theplunger f of which is arranged to be struck'by the door or b y a cushion0 carried thoreb y, as the door approaches the limit of its opening Thedoor is also connected to f, for the purpose of restoring a plunger toits initial position as the door approaches the limit of its closingmovement; The cylinder f is connected by a suitable duct 9 with asecond-cylinder 9 located suitably with ref erence to the folding pedalmechanism. As shown, the duct 9 is connected to the cylinder through theplunger 9, shown in dotted hires, and the cylinder itself is movable,be-

ing restored to. initial position by a suitable spring 9". The cylinderis carried by or acts upon a lever g which operates a latch g.

The latch g on ages the panel it which car- 'e als and normally holdsthe same .in the c osed or inoperative position, bein released throughthe movement of the panejsdoor c. As shown more particularly inc-Figs. 1and 2,7 the blow pedals h are pivoted upon the swinging panel h and arerespective y connected to the bellows pumps by a a link It and an arm ithaving an elbow join-ted member k interposed between the link 5 i andthe rigid member h in order'that the soar n mayyieldwhen the panel h isthrown up in closed position'and permit the panel h'to be brou ht intoits exact position as a porh of the piano. id with res ect anel to swininto the desired osition. p a

The panel his supported by arms which- 40 pivoted at h upon swingingadjustable rms h, each arm h having a pro'ection or e h extending beyondthe pivot to bear pen a stout fiat spring h" which is curved as shown sothatwhen the panel 71 is in its open position, as represented in Fig. 1,the

pressure of the spring it" acts to hold the panel down, and so that whenthe panel h is turnedu into its closed oaition, the ressure oft e s ringacts, tor the pane has ill been lifted s ljh'tlfl, to assist in thefurther to o movement an 1d the anelin itsclosed position. A spring stopis provided to cushion the closingoftho panel.

The springs h" nearlycounter balance the weight of the panel h and theparts carried thereby during the first part of the open'ng movement,-but the spring stop hf has suiticient force to-start the panel on itsopenn' ovement when it is released by the latoli '60 9'! To partlycushion the descendin movement'ol' theanal-7t and its supported parts,and also to 0 act. if desired, the release of the mini roll cabinethereinafter described, there, ismounted uponthe panel a mum- .,;mui yr-" he pldngor v of which a are closed, the

pivotally connected to the casing h, as at i. As shown, the plunger ishollow and is connected by a duct 1) with a cylinder k, through itshollow plunger k The cylinder 1c is re? stored to initial position by aspring 1c and is carried by or acts upon a lever k which uperates alatch The latter engages a hinged panel 1 which forms, as clearly shownin Figs. 5 and 6, a'receptacle or support for music rolls. -A spring 1'cooperates with a stop 1 to throw the panel or cabinet 1 open when itis' released, and a second spring Z co-- to cushion the outoperates witha stop I ward movement of the panel.

The panel! closes only the upper portion of the open ng through thelower front casing h and there 'is hinged near the bottom of said casinga lower panel m which is closed by a spring m applied at the hinge. Asoft roller m is carrie by the lower panel m to bear aga nst the face ofthe panel It, so that the panel m is thrown dOVlD when the panel h isthrown do n and so that the spring m, actmg through the panel m androller m, also assists in raising the panel h. It will now be understoodthat when the latch e'is released, tne door to is immediately opened bythe spring d and, through the described devices, the panel h isimmediately released and opened slightly by the s ring it so thatgravity can act to comp etc the opening movement of the panel h andpanel m. The open'u movement of the panel h is cushs ioncd by. theneumatic cylinder i. and, through the described connections, the musicroll cabinet 1 is also released and permitted to open. While thereforethe several panels piano presents the appearance of an ordinary piano tobe operated manually, but by pressure upon the button e the piano isimmediately prepared for use as an automatic or mechanical piano. Aswill be noted, the latch g, or the latch 70, or the latch r, is held outof engagement with its door only during the actuating movement of thedoor c, and after such actuating movement may at once reen a eits doorand thereafter hold it closed, although the door 0 remains open.-

It 35 bvious that'various changes can be made i g the details ofconstruction and arrangement. Thus, trated in Figs. plo ed for releasingthe atches of the folding pe a] mechanism and of the music rollcabinet,,in place of the pneumatic devices previously described. Asshown in said figures, there is pivoted upon the rear side of the door 0an arm n,'.having at its lower end a roll a. A stop n secured to thedoor prevents movement of the arm n in one direction. Pivoted upontherear side of the casing c is a lover 0 having one end 0 placed in thepath of movement of the roller a, so that as thedoor c'is opened the,endo of the for example, as illusenism, s swin ing music cabinet andmeans actuated by t e movement of one of said movable parts to releasethe other.

-' 13. In 53 mechanical 1111181031 instrument,

the combination of a case, a swing ng panel, 7'

12. In a mechanical musical instrument, the combination of a case, -a.tracker-box, a. movable doortherefor, folding pedal mechanism, a swinginmusic cabinet, a movable coyer for menue y controlling devices and meansactuated by the movement of one of said movable parts to release theothers.

pedal mechanism carried by seid panel and a secondspringectueted swingmpanel cofipe'ratin' with the firstto close t e-same.

1'4; 11 a. mechamcel.musical instrument,

the com'binetion of a case'he ving an opening, a swingingcounterbalanced panel ad op ted to elosesaid opening, pedal mechenismcarried by seidpanel, an we second spring-actuated, swinging panelc06peret-1ng wi 'the first named-panel, to move therewithatoclose saidopeninf.

15. n a, mechanical musicql mstrument,

- the combination of a case having enopening a two-part swinging paneladapted to close part to cause it to bear against the upper part whenopen.

16. In a mechanical musical instrument, the combination of a case, 9.plurality of movable doors, a. latch engaging one of said doors to holdit in closed position, and'means actuated by the opening of another ofsl'aid doors to disengage said latch, saidlatch being adapted to engagethe first named door except during the actuating movement of the secondnamed door, whereby the firstnamed door may be reingaged and held closedby the latch after the opening of the second named door.

This s cification 5 ed and witnessed this fourt day of A p 1906. JOHN A.WESER. Signed m the presence of-- A W. B. Giannin ELLA J Ravens.

